Utopian quest for a happy society

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This FAQ expands on the content of "I would never send my kids to school" by Piotr Wozniak (2017)

Before we ask people to do creative tasks, we need to inquire how they would best accomplish their goals. We need to try to make them happy in their pursuits. This can have a fantastic impact on their performance. However, a colleague noticed that this approach is a bit utopian. He noticed that there are lions out there, and that gazelles often need to run fast. In this cut-throat world, there isn't much time for introspection. His words addressed a wider problem with my thinking:

FAQ question. What are FAQs?
You are painting a utopian vision of the future! Your idea of universal non-opposition to neural control reminds me naïve pacifists who get killed first in war. Modern world, by definition, cannot be stressless. Education cannot be just pleasure. Who would want to be a tax auditor? Without alarm clocks many people would not get to work. Without jetlag, there would be no international business. Without shiftwork, all hospitals would need to close. Without daycare, we would halve the workforce. Without dieting, some people might never get out of the house. How about shortsightedness? Do you also advocate the world without computer screens? How would people use your SuperMemo? We all would love to see a world of happy people, but yours is an utopian world. In a planet of gazelles, one lion can ravage the population

Respect for neural control does not need to undermine progress. Just the opposite, employed judiciously, adherence to natural human needs can add to human creativity, wisdom, health, and social contentment.

We should start from differentiating between chronic stress, acute stress and eustress. We should strive to protect individuals from chronic stress. At the same time, acute stress can be of great value. For a homebound programmer, marathon or winter swimming can be a blessing. Last but not least, eustress is a form of happy stress that helps many soar in their creative work. A good programmer can turn into a great programmer when facing a challenge, competition, or even a reasonable deadline. Exposure to stress needs to be dosed optimally, esp. before puberty.

I have never been an actual gazelle, but I bet that few things feel as good as a successful escape from a predator. There is an elation in the end of a boxing fight, or at the finish line of a marathon. What we do not want to see is a gazelle artificially moved to a new park, or caged for its own protection. We might end up with an obese animal who is losing its interest in survival. Sort of depressed gazelle with existential issues. This is a problem for a large portion of modern society.

The second major exception should be made for the age. We should shield a developing brain from sleep deprivation, alarm clocks, jetlag, stress, maternal separation, etc. Chronic stress leads to brain cell loss, inhibited neurogenesis, premature crystallization of skills, metabolic disorders, problems with sleep, loss of learn drive, learned helplessness, etc. Optimum stress leads to stress resilience, improved overall health, and healthy mental development. All those stress factors affect development and should be dosed incrementally only in transition to adulthood in cases where stress is unavoidable. Even then there is a room to rationalize. A good system for shiftwork does not imply serious violations of circadian hygiene. Paradoxically, healthy brain provides best weapon in stress resilience. Early exposure to chronic stress does not favor a strong brain.

Thirdly, the main target of all my "neural compliance" prescriptions are individuals in creative professions. For example, sleep deprivation will have less of an effect on a salesclerk as compared to a top-tier programmer, writer, or researcher. In terms of creative value, returns on good sleep or good health can be exponential. The best intellectual breakthroughs might explode at top 1% of alertness, creativity, health, focus, or creative pleasure. While a surgeon may need to get up in the middle of the night, the researcher working on a new medical procedure should be shielded from external distraction to provide best possible creative environment for a possible breakthrough.

SuperMemo Guru has no "pacifist" goals to remold the society. The goal is to formulate a set of simple prescriptions from which everyone can pick and choose in proportion to available time, skills, and needs.

The returns can be monumental if we all increase our respect for sleep, freedom, and the pleasure of learning.